Next Season.

[Patrick]

I'm a shed load more worried about next season than anyone else I reckon

Maybe it's just a hangover from the past but maybe it's just common sense

The chances of us doing as well or better than we did last season are ok, but in football as in buzyness it's as much about what you do as it is about what they do

If you take the big clubs, I reckon there's six now, all of them need to move forward as this year really lacked a stamp of authority. Every year throws up a couple of players who outperform their expectations and in my simple mind I reckon it really depends on who buys the surprise packages

Yes we have a lot of baggage left behind this year, yes we have a team who can now begin to u derstand each others surnames, yes we have a platform of success to build on, but.......the rest of the top teams now want our scalp much more than before, they will spend, they will restructure and they will target city, we are now a threat.

It all comes down to who picks next years cherries.... You can't just keep buying overpriced melons

I have drunk a lot btw

[Nutzer]

You're still making sense in spite of the booze. Our biggest advantage is that we can afford to buy any of the cherries we want. Besides Bobby's "melons" are starting to settle in and become cherries. Everyone said he was a fool to buy Edin and Mario but they both appear to have settled down and are playing well.
I'm very optimistic we'll be wiping that arrogant, smugness off Taggart's face next season. Just as Barca will next week.

[Fesan]

Honestly I think we are on the frontfoot compared to the rest of the clubs. We have been "restructuring" the last couple of years but we now have a young group of guys who know how the manager wants them to play and knows how their teammates play.

Our core are just going to get better at playing with each other while our competition have the following outlook:

Chelsea - ageing group of players, not a whole lot of youngsters to fill their ranks. Will have to buy alot to stay as good as they have been, meaning alot of changes, they might take time to gel and might not be able to replace what they are losing quality wise.

Man utd - Same as Chelsea but fewer players close to retirement and better youngsters to back them up. Financial problems and a dip in form that is bound to hit when Ferguson retires is their main problem imo. Will their finances hold if they have one bad season?

Arsenal - If they sack Wenger they are done for IMO so only worth talking about if he stays. Has a young group but not willing to spend enough to shore up the defense. I have been saying for two seasons it is about time their up-and-comers find their feet and start playing at PL level, maybe next season they will be stronger or maybe they will buckle under the pressure. Could be dangerous if they manage to pick up one good defender and a good GK.

Liverpool - After a chaotic year and their major star leaving plus their core (carragher and gerrard) close to retirement I feel they are a combination of where we were two seasons ago and where Chelsea are now. Will take atleast a season before they will become a serious threat, and that is if they are able to bring in the right players.

Tottenham - Some people say they are a striker away from top four, I think they have a decent squad but just not good enough. Defense lacking consistency, midfield good but not great and striker/gk nonexistant. Fans want Redknapp's head and had a massive loss of form towards the end, even got worse after dumping out of the CL. Will have trouble in an expensive market and Redknapp seems to buy players that are just almost good enough for a CL team. I think they will do just OK for the first months of next season and then Redknapp will be fired (or go to jail for tax evasion) and they will be right back in the 5-8th region.

I think all our competators are at a disadvantage and needs the next few seasons to steer their ship in the right direction and shift out aging players. While we have a young squad who are just starting to find their collective feet and thus will probably get better. Utd will be our main competitor atleast untill Ferguson retires, after that anything can happen but a dip in form is bound to happen IMO if you look at similar situations where they have dominated under one manager for many years. I think also one of the abovementioned teams will have a good run each season, being up there but I don't think the same team will be up there each season unless Arsenal sort out their defensive troubles. If Kenny gets time and does things right they might give us trouble a few years from now. Tottenham will not keep Redknapp for more than a year max I think and will drop down to where they have been for long, 5-8th.

I do not claim this to be the truth merely an amateurs analysis of the so called top six.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Andy Gray has always been positive about us, plus his analysis are usually pretty good. I like him :p.
Though, admittedly, I don't listen to anything he says on TS, as I don't usually go on there.

I'm sick and fucking tired of Andy Gray now and used to be a fan actually. All he EVER does is say same fucking obvious things over and over and over again. Offers little to no insight these days. It's like he has card for every club that has five things to say about them and then he just says those every game and then he has another card with ten obvious things to say about football game and throws those in the mix. There's his punditry.

Oh, and this has nothing to do with who he predicted for title or whatever. I don't care about crap like that as much as many other people here do.

[john@staustell]

Arsenal - If they sack Wenger they are done for IMO so only worth talking about if he stays. Has a young group but not willing to spend enough to shore up the defense. I have been saying for two seasons it is about time their up-and-comers find their feet and start playing at PL level, maybe next season they will be stronger or maybe they will buckle under the pressure. Could be dangerous if they manage to pick up one good defender and a good GK.

Personally I think if they keep Wenger they are done for. But I guess it's all about opinions. We may get to find out!

[Ted Hughes]

I think it's very difficult to judge how other teams will go next season. Imo we have to assume that ALL of them will be better & not only that, but recon on the mid table sides improving & becoming more difficult to take points off. Of course it's not likely that all will actually improve but it's not impossible & I think it's nailed on that 2 or 3 will go up a gear, possibly including the rags if they spend the last of their money. They won't all fuck up, like they have this year.

If we're to just stay where we are, we have to improve imo. I expect we will do that & that we'll go a bit further & put in a challenge for the title, which is all we can realistically ask imo.

[PALUS]

hi i m suporter of city from bosnia you can image thet you have many suporters from here ,and i must ask we have been afreid of dzeko destiny becose we know hes good bether then good hes a machine with suplay but in bad start of the season u give him suport and stay by him , and now i watch the game and see how you singing the song to him almost evry game.i will like you to open up topic bosnians for city so we can show you how much we respect your faith in dzeko and you wel see next year , just need more ball insade and to ajust , my advice to manchini fint two good suplayers and cross guys ,and corner takers becose dzeko in the air is kiling machine and he have good tehnic.so if any administrator see this we from bosnia will love to show suport for city if u give us a chance one topic by name , bosnians for city , thanks.......

[Bear60]

City
Scum
Scouse
Spurs

[john68]

This years league winning points totals would have seen the rags finish 3rd,4th,3rd,4th,3rd,2nd 2nd 2nd and equal 1st, going back to 2001. So not as great a years for them as it 1st looks. I'm not sure whether the lower points totals of the top clubs is because they aren't as good or whether it is because the rest of the league is more competetive.
Of the top 6, City are the only team that has improved on their points total of the previous season. The rags -5, Chelsea -14, Arsenal -8, Spurs -8 and Liverpool -5, leaving City as the only improvers on 4 extra points.

CITY...Winning the Cup and finishing joint 2nd will have done wonders for our cionfidence and brought what is relatuively a newish team closer together...It depends on who we bring in and whether the likes of Dzeko, Balotelli, Boateng and Kolarov finally settle in and show improvement. Whether Tevez stays or goes is another massive factor and if he leaves, who we replace him with. ALL IN ALL, THINGS LOOK POSITIVE FOR CITY.

THE RAGS...Winning the title in a poor year, seems to have had more to with the failings of their rivals and making the CL final as well seems to have masked some of their inadequacies. Losing the core of their team won't help and I can't see those who remain instead of retiring giving them many games. The very fact they are being askled to stay on is a testament to their weakness. I can't see tham buying big and at some point they will fail...thought they would last season...hoping it's this. A LOWER POINTS TOTAL THAN EVEN THIS SEASON AND THEN ITS DEPENDANT ON WHETER THE OTHERS CAN OVERTAKE THEM.

ARSENAL...Wenger seems hell bent on continuing his policy of youth and I can't see tham improving greatly with what they've got. If Wenger refuses to spend big and thenloses a couple, he could be seeing the exit door next season at some point. I THINK THEY'LL BE SIMILAR TO THIS SEASON...SOME GOOD, SOME BAD...BUT NEVER UGLY.

SPURS...Who knows what they'll throw ouyt? They suffered badly from too many ghames and a weak squad this season, masked by some good results. More games in the Europa League will extend them, maybe to beyond their limits and I see them weaker and incinsistant in the league. FEWR POINTS THAN THIS YEAR.

LIVERPOOL...Whollty dependant on who they buy, how they cope with the increased number of games and whether the Kenny effect hold them up. NOT GOOD ENOUGH BUT WILL IMPROVE.

We are in it to win it and it is possible.

[MaineRoadMemories]

I think this year was a one off and next will be back to normal meaning 85+ points to win the league. If we lose Tevez I can't see us reaching that target next year, maybe the year after though.

[brite blu sky]

We will have to wait at least to see what transfers happen to all the clubs before hedging bets. Agree with Ted & John broadly, though the nearly teams will have to strengthen just to stand still, it doesn't guarentee improvement. Imo all the top 6 will try to strengthen significantly to try and pull back the initiative from not only the other top 6 but the rest of the league after an almost shockingly tight season. So it depends imo.
The season being tighter from top to bottom is imo both the top being weaker and the bottom stronger. So again it depends on the league as a whole attracting very good players to make a difference to that, together with how good the promoted teams are (there was perhaps almost 40 pts kept by the bottom two teams this season, that would get distributed otherwise). It could still be tight again but i suppose i doubt it.

As for City, the team is getting there and the manager is getting there.. just a couple of extra players of real quality and some improvement with a pre-season all together and imo there are not too many reasons why they cannot be right up there fighting it out all season. (that is of course as long as they don't get bedazzled by the CL like the stupid Spuds did).

[Ted Hughes]

I agree the top have got weaker & the bottom stronger but I recon almost all of the top sides will be stronger next season; they know that they have to be, because we have arrived. With a bit of luck though, Abramovic may fuck up Chelsea's pre season & ruin their chances. The rags are a different matter though. 95% of teams don't have the balls to beat any kind of team they put out, no matter how badly it plays at OT, so we need plenty of home points ourselves if we're to overtake them.

Our points total leaves us way off a title challenge in almost any season, with a lot of ground to make up, but the big thing is the way we've finished, rather than the number of points. We were actually quite crap quite often during this season & spunked away points at places like Wolves but we have looked like a totally different outfit in the last few weeks. Even v Everton I thought we looked absolutely superb 1st half & got mugged by Phil Dowd 2nd half.

If we carry this form & confidence into next season, we'll challenge.

[mcfc1632]

I don't care what Gray says - but I expect us to win the title next season (perhaps I have blue-tinted specs) - we have finished off last season really well - as a unit, looking very solid and very much in command - there is no reason why we cannot start next season on a strong run and just motor - while other teams will be doing the sort of restructuring we have been through (Ok maybe not as extreme)

[brite blu sky]

Our points total leaves us way off a title challenge in almost any season, with a lot of ground to make up, but the big thing is the way we've finished, rather than the number of points. We were actually quite crap quite often during this season & spunked away points at places like Wolves but we have looked like a totally different outfit in the last few weeks. Even v Everton I thought we looked absolutely superb 1st half & got mugged by Phil Dowd 2nd half.

If we carry this form & confidence into next season, we'll challenge.

As Bob has stated the aim is to tilt at the title. Personally i'm going to stay relaxed and take it as it comes and see how we kick off the season. But basically yes if we start with the mentality shown over the last few games we will be right up there. I am expecting to be in the top 4 again and will be royally pissed off if the CL gets in the way. I feel nicely confident that top 4 is very doable, so the real test comes in how much Bob and the team have learn't so the points thrown away doesn't happen very often or at all.

There is good reason to think that we can be better than this season, without listing the whole lot, there were good excuses imo for the team not being at the top of it's game, mainly Bob learning and players needing time together. Yaya, Silva, Mario, Kolarov, Boateng, Dzeko all new to the Prem and Milner getting used to his price tag and the rest having to take up the slack as it were. The other key excuse was a distinct lack of competent fit strikers in the first half of the season.

There is still a lot of room for improvement as we have noted on here, but at least the main characters won't be trying to get used to each other and can concentrte on fine tuning and widening their general repertoire.

Obviously a couple more top class players might help too ;)

[Nickyboy]

i think the squad we have will beat anyone! we have momentum and belief, thats better than a 30m signing!